1 The Zenith Heaven

'Clang!'

'Clang!'

'Clang!'

Middle-Earth, the celestial land.

Zenith Heaven.

When a profound silence prevailed over everything, a ripple of bells suddenly rang out in the distance.

Here, the waterfalls were like the dropping stellar streams. The sun, moon, and mountains emanated heavenly glory.

It was both resplendent and magnificent, the place was enveloped in spiritual vigor, filled with exquisite covered bridges and was surrounded by flocks of red-crowned cranes, making one's eyes dizzy.

"Junior Brothers and Sisters. This is the Zenith Bridge. Both Inner and Outer Sect disciples have to go over this bridge every early morning at five o'clock, they are to attend lectures given by the Elders or Senior Brothers. Bear this in mind: Those who miss the early morning class will be punished," taking the lead, a rather young disciple in his early twenties introduced himself to around a hundred people.

"We understand. Thank you for informing us, Senior Brother," they answered at the same time piously. After doing so, they stepped onto the Zenith Bridge.

While standing on the bridge, they looked down and saw cranes flying through the flowing clouds against the background of rolling mountains. But what impressed them the most was the cultivators flying on their swords.

They were too excited, they couldn't help but keep looking around fervently. Amongst these disciples, some were nobles or even from the imperial family, however, they were all treated equally in the Zenith Heaven.

Such mundane powers could never compete with immortal sects.

"Junior Brothers and Sisters, a total of a hundred and eight heavenly hills are right over there. Each one of those hills have different features and are carrying different meanings. On those hills live a hundred and eight Senior Immediate disciples of the sect. All of them are very well-known cultivators. Do you see that splendid and glorious hill right over there? That's where Senior Brother Jin Guang lives, he ranks tenth in our sect!

"That hill which is surrounded by canes is where Senior Brother Qin He lives. He ranks eighth in the sect.

"On the opposite side, the hill enveloped in celestial purple air is where Senior Sister Zi Yun lives. She takes the second place amongst all the disciples here."

The young disciple introduced the hills patiently to the newcomers, his eyes were filled with admiration.

When they arrived at the other end of the Zenith Bridge, one of the new disciples asked,

"Senior brother, excuse me! Where does the head disciple live?"

The new disciple who asked the question was very curious, he really couldn't help but wonder why this important part was omitted.

Upon hearing this, the rest of the disciples also realized it and were expectantly waiting for the answer.

Indeed, from the tenth to the second, this Senior Brother covered nine hills in total, but he never mentioned where the head disciple lived. This was very strange because the head disciple should be the person who attracted the most attention here.

"There is no such thing as being first place in the world of martial arts, it's just like in the world of literature according to the thirty-second Sect Master of Zenith Heaven. The sect master firmly believed that the temperament of a cultivator should be as tolerant and mild as water, this is because obsessiveness is derived from desires. Therefore, Zenith Heaven doesn't believe in such things as being 'first place'."

One of the new disciples who knew the reason behind this explained.

The Senior Brother then nodded in approval. "What this Junior Brother just said is correct. We don't have such a thing in Zenith Heaven. However, this tradition is probably going to be altered soon."

The new disciples became even more curious now.

"What does this mean, Senior Brother?"

"Is there a matchless genius in Zenith Heaven?"

"It's said that when Senior Sister Zi Yun was born, a purple cloud extended eastward for more than three thousand miles. And thus, she is regarded as the reincarnation of a celestial ancestor in the Dao Sect. But she's not even first place?"

All of a sudden, someone was going to break the rule that the sect had obeyed for hundreds of years. The new disciples couldn't wait to know the answer.

Being first place, after all, this was always exciting and it carried extraordinary meaning in their hearts.

In the mundane world, the imperial family killed each other just to be in first place.

However, in Zenith Heaven, the supreme immortal sect, even the least competitive disciple was capable of becoming a duke in the mundane world.

What kind of person could take first place in Zenith Heaven? They couldn't imagine it.

The new disciples had all kinds of looks on their faces. Some of them even wondered if their Senior Brother was just joking.

"Three years ago, the Sect Master of our sect went on an expedition to the mundane world, he and the other Sect Masters from the rest of the sects encountered a matchless genius. They called him The Son of Qilin. The Sect Master of the Heaven Secrets Sect even predicted that he would become the number one cultivator in a hundred thousand years. Therefore, our Sect Master overcame all kinds of difficulties and turned this marvelous genius into his last immediate student. It is said that the Sect Master will soon change this rule, and make the entire sect respect the genius known as Eldest Senior Brother, he will assign that genius the number one hill," the Senior Brother slowly explained.

However, the disciples couldn't believe their ears.

"A matchless genius… The Son of Qilin?"

"The Sect Masters fought for him?"

"The number one cultivator in a hundred thousand years?"

They couldn't help but chew on the words themselves, trying to digest the information they heard.

These words were beyond shocking.

"Then… where is Eldest Senior Brother?" one of the new disciples asked, his face showed absolute admiration and respect.

"Just over there." The Senior Brother lifted his arm and pointed towards a direction.

"Can we meet him?" a young girl couldn't help but ask.

"Maybe we can, or maybe we cannot. I've never met him in person in the past three years. But for those who have, they all speak highly of him. It is even said that Senior Sister Zi Yun has a secret crush on him," he lowered his voice for the second half of the sentence, but it still caused quite a stir among the disciples.

They finally stepped off the bridge with great excitement, and then, all of them looked to their left.

This was because the matchless genius lived in one of the hills there.

"Do you see that?" The Senior Brother pointed at one of the hills decorated with countless maple trees.

The fiery maple leaves looked incredibly stunning.

Beside these trees, there were plenty of disciples lingering around. Most of them were female disciples, but there were still many males.

"Who are they…?" one of the new disciples asked.

"They are all here hoping to take a glance at the Eldest-Senior-Brother-To-Be. The genius Senior Brother cultivates very hard and has never left this place in the past three years. However, occasionally, he would show up on that hill. All of those who were lucky enough to catch this opportunity said that they were deeply impressed by the Eldest Senior Brother's demeanor…

"Honestly speaking, I've come here more than a hundred times but have never gotten lucky. Maybe we'll be able to see him the day when he is officially respected as the Eldest Senior Brother in the sect by the Sect Master," the Senior Brother answered, his tone was filled with curiosity as well.

He couldn't help keep on staring at the maple hill.

At the same time.

The spiritual air between Heaven and Earth suddenly trembled as clusters of golden clouds gathered around the hill.

The red maple hill bathed in the golden beams of light, it looked beyond glorious and was absolutely splendid.

The overwhelming spiritual air swept over the entire space, echoing with every cultivator in Zenith Heaven.

This scene was utterly incredible.

Then, the flow of spiritual air joined together on the red hill, dyeing the sky red. Against this background, clusters of golden clouds uttered the ultimate auspiciousness.

"Is that a breakthrough?"

"That Senior Brother just reached a new level!"

"This scene can only occur when a major breakthrough takes place!"

"I thought this was only possible in legendary stories! I can't believe I'm this lucky!"

The disciples who were present were all beyond shocked. Some who knew more about what making a major breakthrough meant explained to the rest of them.

"The Son of Qilin is indeed an extraordinary genius. In just three years, he made this significant breakthrough so powerful that even the heaven and earth echoes to it. What level has he reached?"

"At the very least… Nascent Soul?"

"Nascent Soul… how incredible… it's said that the Son of Qilin is only eighteen years old. I can't believe it."

"Reaching the Nascent Soul stage sounds like a bit of an exaggeration. I think it's maybe the Nascent Formation Stage…"

"Maybe the Gold Core Stage?"

"Impossible. It should at least be Nascent Formation. The Gold Core stage can't possibly trigger such an incredible natural phenomenon!"

A heated discussion regarding this topic went on and on.

The rest of the hills were also glowing because of the awe-struck power. More than a hundred pairs of eyes were staring at the maple hill at the same time. Some of them gasped at the view, some were stunned, and some were speechless.

The scene indeed looked really formidable.

At this time, someone suddenly exclaimed at the top of his lungs, "There! He's there!"

All of them instantly cast their eyes on the red hill.